Guitar Pro 6 released
For Guitar Pro users, version 6 recently released with some nice new features. If you have a previous version, they are offering the upgrade for $29.95 until 4/30/2010 after which it will cost $39.95. For those of you who do not have Guitar Pro, it's a great program with many uses. First time puchase price is $59.95. Anyway, heres the link http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php.
I've been using Guitar Pro for years and years. Each version seems to be much better than the previous. I mainly have used GP to learn new songs on the guitar or bass. The sounds of the actual instruments in GP have never been up to performance quality level, but this new version has included over 100 sound banks which sound much better than the previous versions.
There are 1000's of GP files on the internet for downloading. What I have done, in some cases, is find a GP file for a song I want to learn, and then export the audio from GP as a .wav file which I can use in any Media Player or convert to .mp3 and copy it to the CF card on my GNX4 as a backing track for practice. If GP6 has better sounds like it advertises, maybe it will work as a live performance backing tracks, but GP5 was not up to that quality yet. I hope GP6 rises to that level.
Video link: http://en.audiofanzine.com/tablature-editor/arobas-music/Guitar-Pro-6/medias/a.play,m.41364.html
I've been using Guitar Pro for years and years. Each version seems to be much better than the previous. I mainly have used GP to learn new songs on the guitar or bass. The sounds of the actual instruments in GP have never been up to performance quality level, but this new version has included over 100 sound banks which sound much better than the previous versions.
There are 1000's of GP files on the internet for downloading. What I have done, in some cases, is find a GP file for a song I want to learn, and then export the audio from GP as a .wav file which I can use in any Media Player or convert to .mp3 and copy it to the CF card on my GNX4 as a backing track for practice. If GP6 has better sounds like it advertises, maybe it will work as a live performance backing tracks, but GP5 was not up to that quality yet. I hope GP6 rises to that level.
Video link: http://en.audiofanzine.com/tablature-editor/arobas-music/Guitar-Pro-6/medias/a.play,m.41364.html
Comments
I'm ordering the upgrade.
Been using GP since version 4, when WOGS turned me on to it.
Please let me know but only if you have time to write a review.
I just thought of a great idea with it. I can hook up my laptop to my 37 inch wide screen with an HDMI cable and have one huge display screen with sheet music on it. now that kicks!!!!!
Well, I'm not into selling the program and I don't know much about giving a product review, but I'll tell you how I have used Guitar Pro over the years.
First of all, I play bass guitar in my current cover band, but I also play rhythm and a little bit of lead guitar. When I learn a new song, I usually have to get tab to learn from because I'm not to good at playing by ear. I go to Ultimate-guitar.com and download tabs and guitar pro files. I like the paper tab in hand to read and learn. I'll look at the tab while listening to the original track and see if I can make sense out of it. Too often, tab has the notes but not when they need to be played - compared to standard notation which has the notes and timing. What I like about Guitar Pro files is that it will display both the guitar tab and the standard notation so you can see what notes to play and when. Just like not all tabs are created equally, neither are all user programmed Guitar Pro tabs. I'll take whatever version is the best for me.
What is great about Guitar Pro, is that once I start practicing the song, I can mute my part on the song and play along with the rest of the band. So, if I'm learning the bass line, I can simply mute the bass part and have Guitar Pro play the drums, lead, rhythm, melody, etc... depending on how many parts were programmed into the song. Since Guitar Pro is not an audio program per se (it's more like a midi program), I can slow down the music as much as I need while learning. I can loop difficult parts and practice them over and over. Since Guitar Pro is not stretching audio files, it really does not matter how much you slow down the tempo while learning the song. It will sound fine at 120 BPM and if I have to slow it down to 60 BPM while learning the song - it doesn't sound all funky like audio file sound when time stretched.
Also, Guitar Pro displays the music on the screen while you play. You can decide what tracks to display. But I think you already figured that one out.
In the past, the actual sounds from Guitar Pro have not been fantastic, at least when compared to live instruments. But recently they have been including improved sounds for the instruments. This most recent upgrade has more than 100 sounds in the sound bank. That's a good step forward. I don't have the most recent release, but I'm hoping that the sounds are good enough to be used as backing tracks. You can export Guitar Pro songs into audio .wav files to use as audio backing tracks. I've done that in the past, but I would never have seriously considered the exported audio to be high quality backing tracks. But for practice, they were plenty good.
So why not just play along with the original songs? Well, I do to get the subtle timing and feel of the original artist. But there comes a time in my practice that I need to play the song without hearing my part on the original recording to see if I can play solo with the band. I find that if I play along with the original recording, I often am listening to my part on the recording and follow that instead of actually playing the part. In Guitar Pro, I can mute my bass track, for example, and I am forced to play the part without a crutch. That way, I really know if I can play the part myself or if I'm relying on the original and just tricking myself into thinking that I know the part.
On the Guitar Pro website, they have a bunch of websites listed that host Guitar Pro files under the Resources box: http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php?pg=support. It's the user files that make or break this program for me. There are at least 50,000 Guitar Pro files out there and almost every song I have wanted to play I have found.
Guitar Pro has been in my toolbox for a long time. It's not the only program I use, but I still use it alot. And I don't want to make it sound like it's the program you can't live without. It helps me in learning songs. So it has value to me. Some other members in my band also use Guitar Pro, and some don't. Some just listen to the original recording and can play it back by ear. Not me. I don't have that skill. But check out their website, download the demo, and see if it's a program that is worth it for you. Best wishes.
Only 60.00 for the full program, that isnt too much when it comes down to learning things correc tly.
thanks for the rundown.
I am very happy with it so far and until 4-30 the price to go from GP4-GP5 to GP6 is only $29.95 it goes to $39.95 after 4-30-2010
The demo version should give you an idea of what the full retail version can do for you. The reason why I started this thread was because I have actually used this program for many years, over many different versions, and still find it useful. There are not too many programs that I continue to use after a short while, but GP is one of them. Also, I have found each new release to be an improvement over the previous versions. So the company keeps on improving the product.
I'm a gigging musican, and I have paid more than $60.00 for a single cable. So I put the cost of GP in relation to my other expenses. If I use a program, then it has value. And I have used GP for many years.
Just want to warn anyone that is considering a first time purchase, that GP tabs are only as good as the user who wrote them. Some GP tabs are better than others. As a bass player, it's my impression that most of these GP tabs are written by guitarists, and not bass players. Sometimes the bass line is right, other times OK but not so good. But like I said, GP is just one tool in my toolbox and I of course listen to the original tracks and compare them to any GP file I download off the internet.
I just don't want anyone to think that all GP tabs are 100% accurate. Most GP tabs I download are submitted by other musicians like us, so you don't have a studio pro tabbing this stuff out for us and submitting it on the internet for free. I find that Ultimate-guitar.com which has the GP tabs rated by users usually steers me to the best tab. Many popular songs may have a number of GP tab submissions, and when they do, I'll download all the tabs and go with the one I like the best.
One final thought, if you buy into the GP program, and you use it, you will discover that you will end up upgrading when the new versions come out. This is because Guitar Pro 5 tabs will not work with the earlier Guitar Pro 4 program. Now that Guitar Pro 6 is out, there will be guys submitting GP tabs in the version 6 format and our old Guitar Pro 5.2 software will probably not read those files. So, in a way, you are almost forced to upgrade to keep current. Which is why I mentioned that the upgrade is $10 off for the month of April.
That's what we generally call \"a review\".
Ok, but to me a good review goes through the program describing all its features and how well it works. I probably only use a small part of the program features. For example, although I have downloaded 1000's of GP tabs, I have never actually made and submitted one GP tab. There are features to write and compose GP tabs that I have never used - ever. I'm sure there are probably lots of other features I have never used in GP. But if my post qualifies as a \"review\", I'm Ok with that too.
It's all terminology, man
Recently I have been downloading GP tabs and exporting the files as midi. I import those midi files to my Cubase 5 where I have better VST sounds to choose from (GP5 sounds were limited). Also, I run the drum track through EZDrummer, which that alone makes a huge difference in any midi drum file. After I get everything all setup and running, I usually mute the bass track and export the audio file to make myself a bass backing track for practice. It's like a karaoke file for bass instead of vocals.
But, if I don't want, or don't need a separate backing track, I'll just run the GP program and mute the bass track for practice. It's quick and easy that way.
These days, it's all about sitting in front of the computer monitor clicking back to the exact spot in a song .. over an over LoL.. But with window's media player I can slow the song down an keep the pitch of the song.. To me! That's the best thing since sliced bread!
So... perhaps you can tell me why GP would be better? Really, maybe I am just old fashion. But what advantage is there to GP an $60.. To what I am doing now?
I just can't help but think, no matter how one tries to build a better mouse trap... In the end, it is still a mouse trap.
You can pm or e-mail, if you don't want to get into a non digitech product.. On a digitech forum.. LoL
If you like Windows Media Player to slow down your audio files, you will really love BestPractice http://bestpractice.sourceforge.net/ which is a free program that can slow down, change pitch, loop sections, and even more functions with audio files. Also, you can save the audio file with your modifications. That comes in handy if I need to change the key on a song and want to have an audio file saved in the new key. I have used BestPractice for about 4 years and it's a great product - and it's free!
One advantage GP has over these slow downer audio programs is that you can see the actual tab being played in GP. You can slow down GP to basically nothing and still play along with the tab. And since GP tabs are not true audio files, it does not matter how slow you run the tab. My audio programs work great, but if you slow down the file 30-50%, the quality of the audio really suffers. Another advantage of GP is that you can use it as a composing tool, and you can build songs with it if you want.
I grew up playing saxaphone in the school band. I can read music quite well. But I was never taught, nor did I ever learn, how to play by ear. So being able to see the GP tab in front of me while the music plays is a great benefit. Also, sometimes I like to solo the bass line and just play along with that and nothing else. I can't do that with my audio only programs.
Does that make GP worth $60.00? I guess it depends on what you need or want in your practice tools. I have used GP for about 7 years and still use it. When I consider that I might spend more than $60.00 on a single speaker cable for stage use, then the cost of GP does not seem that much in comparison.
GP is just one of the many tools I use to learn new songs. I'm not trying to sell the product for them. I just noticed that they came out with a new version and that they were offering special upgrade prices for the month of April. I thought there might be some guys here on the forum that were not aware of the new version and limited time offer for the $10 off on the upgrade. And I'm not opposed to discussing non-Digitech products in the General Discussion forum. Heck, since Digitech discontinued the GNX4, I'm willing to talk about anything related to music here. We won't be talking about upgrades to our GNX workstations.....
I always have to wait until the last minute to do something.... I don't know why? :?
Now that I'm older, the last minute is remembered a day or so later.
I probably don't need GP6, but you guys get to buy stuff you don't need, so I don't want to feel left out.
Try the demo first and see if it's worth the price for you. Everyone has different needs.